Key points
- The Ministry of Health has approved the first single Standard for hospitalization criteria in Ukraine.
- The document is mandatory for healthcare institutions of all forms of ownership that provide assistance to adult patients.
- The Standard systematically regulates hospitalization for social reasons for the first time – lack of safe housing, risk of violence, or inability to control treatment at home.
- If a decision cannot be made immediately, a medical observation regime is provided for up to 24 hours.
- The doctor makes a decision about hospitalizing children individually, taking into account the family’s ability to provide safe care.
The Ministry of Health of Ukraine approved the first Standard “Criteria for hospitalizing patients for providing inpatient medical care” – an order of the Ministry of Health dated July 30, 2026, No. 1044. The document unifies approaches to planned and emergency hospitalization, continuation of treatment, transfer, and discharge of adult patients and is mandatory for healthcare institutions of all forms of ownership.
Before the adoption of the standard, hospitalization criteria existed only in separate clinical protocols and local documents of institutions, which led to both unjustified refusals to patients and prolonged stay in the hospital of people who could be treated on an outpatient basis.
The new document combines these approaches into a single system that covers the entire patient’s route.
The new Standard is not about limiting hospitalization or reducing medical care. If a person’s condition requires round-the-clock monitoring, complex treatment, or intervention that cannot be safely performed on an outpatient basis, the patient must be hospitalized.
– Minister of Health of Ukraine Viktor Lyashko.
The grounds for inpatient treatment may be the need for round-the-clock monitoring, continuous monitoring of vital functions, invasive or high-risk interventions, as well as the lack of a safe outpatient alternative. If the final decision cannot be made immediately, a medical observation regime is provided for up to 24 hours, during which doctors conduct diagnostics and determine the patient’s further route.
The standard also systematically regulates hospitalization for social reasons for the first time – in cases where outpatient treatment is dangerous due to the lack of safe housing, heat, or communication, the risk of violence, inability to self-care, or inability to control treatment with insulin, oxygen, or anticoagulants at home. In such situations, temporary hospitalization with the involvement of social services is possible.
The decision to hospitalize children is made by a doctor individually, taking into account the family’s ability to provide safe care at home.
After discharge, medical care does not stop – the family doctor remains the primary point of contact and, if necessary, directs the patient for a repeat examination or hospitalization.
The Standard does not establish tariffs, rules for paying for medical services, or the number of hospital beds.
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